Ses Light, Engine Knock, Etc

1231 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Ezekiel81923, May 6, 2004

Ezekiel81923

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2004

I was driving yesterday and my SES light came on when i started trhe car, but usually i ignore it because it used to happen a lot. Well, this morning it was still one when i started it. I was driving to school and when i was at a complete stop, when i tried to accelerate the car would not respond as quickly as it usually does (took an extra second maybe) and it would knock once (i guess when it shifted..or whenever it would finally start accelerating). I dont know what the problem could be, it does need gas, but that cant be it.

Im gonna get home and make sure all my fluids are fine (because oil could be a problem) and i know the coolant was an issue the last time it was inspected. Other than that i dont really know. I really really cant go without this car until sunday, i need 200 miles out of it (roughly, prolly less) and then sunday i can do whatever i need or it can do whatever it wants. Hopefully its a simple fluids issue, throw some regular unleaded and a bottle of mobil 1 and be set. If its something i should really be worried about, please lemme know.

If it matters, its a 97 Taurus GL with the vulcan engine, auto trans and it has 55,449 miles on it. And the transmission has been rebuilt once at the end of january, so please dont tell me its the transmission...unless it is

One last thing...its good to be back

EDIT: Oh yea, the knocking and hesitant acceleration stopped after the car warmed up, about half way through my drive to school

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afi292

· #2 · May 5, 2004

Well i know that my car made a "knocking" sound but it turned out to be the air being sucked through the air filter quickly..

When your car is cold or however you first heard the sound, start the car, open the hood, and pull on the accellerator cable... if you hear a gasping noise... thats what mine did.. the mechanics at the ford dealership said it was an engine knock...but low and behold it was the engine gasping for air... g/l

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fvt

· #3 · May 5, 2004

i thought using the wrong type of fuel will also cause knocking.....am i correct?

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FRAG24

· #4 · May 5, 2004

warm up your car before driving it. we have the same car, and my ses light went on before i did change my oil then after driving it for a day it went off.

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Ezekiel81923

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 5, 2004

This is all very good news...so ill warm it up before i drove home from school today and then ill check fluids, mainly the oil and if need be ill fill her up..

I use 87 octane so the knocking shouldnt be from the fuel used..it was my understanding that that was only a problem if u used premium in a car that doesnt need it (ours)

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majisto

· #6 · May 5, 2004

Go get those codes read at Autozone. That SES light is there for a reason.

When you said it needed gas, how low were you? Driving a car with almost no gas is asking for big trouble. If you really can't pay for gas, take the bus and spare that poor motor. Knocks are pretty hard to diagnose. I really think you drew up some crud from your tank and the motor didn't like it. Maybe your MAF is dirty?

The engine won't knock on higher octane. If you're hearing a "clunk" on acceleration, the idiots who did your trans-axle might have screwed up the tranny mount, or possibly a motor mount is out. Watch the engine as somebody steps on the accelerator pedal in drive (MAKE SURE THEY ARE ALSO HOLDING THE BRAKE DOWN!). If the motor moves excessively, a mount is bad.

Just for the record, my Vulcan makes a "diesel" like sound in the morning when it is very cold, and it is a bit hesitant (It's in open-loop mode, it's normal) to go. How long did it take to warm up, and how long is your drive? Thermostat could be stuck open.

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Ezekiel81923

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 6, 2004

It wasnt too low, i filled it up and if my car has a 16 gallon tank then it still had 2 gallons left...a little but more actually. However, there was one time where it only had about 3/4 of a gallon left...and when i was driving it started hesitating when i was giving it a lot of gas, so could that have pulled some s*** into my engine?

I only had the clunk three times, maybe even jus two, yesterday morning, it didnt clunk at all yesterday afternoon or this morning..and i of course forgot to give it time to warm up before i got in this morning. It usually takes maybe 5-6 mins for the car to warm up, or for the needle to move past the C...then its just a little while before its officially "warmed up".

I guess i trust my girlfriend enough to give it some gas and ill check to see if the motor mount is messed up. But when i do that technique i cant get much higher than 2000rpms before the car wants to move anyway..is that enough? And how much shaking should i be looking for?

For the record...and u guys are gonna love this...i went under the hood yesterday after school and check my oil and coolant and everything, and they were all fine. But my brother pulled something off my intake manifold, and i look closer cuz there was still some there, and there were bones all around this faded red area on my intake. turns out i fried a bird, somehow he got in there. So i thought maybe he was freakin out and knocked something loose, but from what i saw that was not the case.

The only autozone i have around here...i think..is in norristown, and its not a very good one at all. Ill look for another one, there is one in another town close by, but ive never been there. Do i just ask the guy at the counter to check my ECU cuz i have an SES light on? And its free?

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Ezekiel81923

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 6, 2004

Well..still no sign of a knock, and my SES light is still on.

The only thing out of the ordinary now is that when i give it more gas than it wants, it might hesitate before going into 1st...like from a complete stop or a slow roll, but other than that its fine. And if i ease into the gas, thats not even a problem.

So as far as im concerned, this car will last till sunday, then ill get it checked out.
Am i wrong?

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